RE, a prefix or inseparable particle in the composition of words, denotes return, repetition, iteration. It is contracted from red, which the Latins retained in words beginning with a vowel, as in redamo, redeo, redintegro. In a few English words, all or most of which, I believe, we receive from the French, it has lost its appropriate signification, as in rejoice, recommend, receive.
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Webster's Dictionary 1828
American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828.